The Palestinian Jordan Valley, particularly east of Jericho, is witnessing a serious escalation in Israeli Occupation Forces’ (IOF) violations aimed at depopulating the area through various forms of forced displacement targeting Bedouin communities. One of the most prominent cases is the ‘Arab al-Malihat al-Tahta Community, located southeast of al-‘Auja village, which has been subjected to systematic pressure that ultimately forced its residents to evacuate their homes and pastoral lands, constituting one of the most serious cases of forced displacement in recent times.

This displacement comes amid a serious escalation in settler attacks, particularly what is known as “pastoral settlement,” where herds of livestock are used as a tool to impose control over Palestinian lands and deprive their owners of them. This constitutes a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and human rights standards, foremost among them the prohibition of the forcible transfer of an occupied territory’s civilian population.

This report aims to document the forced displacement of the residents of the ‘Arab al-Malihat community and highlight its humanitarian and societal impacts. It forms part of PCHR’s broader efforts to expose Israel’s ongoing crimes, hold those responsible accountable, and ensure international protection for Palestinian civilians.

According to information and testimonies gathered by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights’ (PCHR) staff, in early hours of Thursday, 3 July 2025, about 18 Palestinian families of 123 individuals, including 28 women and 61 children, began dismantling their dwellings built of tinplate, steel, and bricks, their livestock barns built of tinplate, steel, and tarpaulins. They relocated these structures to an area about 5 kilometers away from their original residential area and lands, following a series of Israeli settler attacks targeting the residents of the area.

The families were forced to evacuate after Israeli settlers established a settlement outpost consisting of a tent and a livestock bran in the middle of the community on 1 July 2025. This outpost is an extension of a previous one they set up earlier this year in the Ras al-‘Auja area, located on the northern side of the community.

Field Observations:

During their visit to the area, PCHR’s staff documented the tragic conditions endured by the Palestinian residents, as well as their deep sorrow after dismantling their dwellings and being forcibly displaced following a series of settler attacks. The displaced residents worked together to dismantle their dwellings and transport them by truck to an area several kilometers away, where they began rebuilding their lives after being uprooted from their community.

PCHR’s field researcher, Hanadi al-Barghouthi, says:

“The Israeli occupation authorities consider the presence of these Bedouin communities as a dangerous form of steadfastness, viewing them as guardians of the Palestinian land. Therefore, the removal of these communities has become a primary goal for the Israeli authorities through various means such as settlement expansion, repeated attacks, establishment of pastoral outposts, recurrent demolitions, and incitement campaigns by the Israeli Civil Administration. While demolition operations occurred sporadically in past years, they have systematically escalated over the past four years, accompanied by sheep theft, burning of agricultural equipment, and threats to basic livelihoods. This has put constant and continuous pressure on the community’s residents and ultimately led to their forced displacement.”

Regarding the reasons that forced the residents to leave, a 34-year-old mother of three children told PCHR’s researcher:¹

“We decided to leave after settlers destroyed our neighbors’ tents, and the recent attacks became almost daily and unbearable. We dismantled our tent, gathered what remained of our belongings, and moved to an area known as Al-‘Awsaq in al-‘Auja village. Currently, about 11 families from the community are there, trying to start new lives under harsh and unstable conditions. Fortunately, the displacement coincided with the summer break, which partially eased the shock for my daughter, who had been studying at the only school in the area. Today, we are deeply concerned about our children’s educational future as the new school term approaches; we have no nearby school and no clear plan for their education. We fear they will lose their right to education just as we have lost our land and shelter. All that remains of our memories in ‘Arab al-Malihāt are torn photographs, an empty land, and a lingering fear that haunts our children.”

The location of the ‘Arab al-Malihāt Community along al-Mo’arajat Road, a vital route connecting Ramallah and Jericho, is strategic, placing it under direct threat. By controlling this road, the Israeli authorities aim to prevent the geographical expansion of the community eastward and to impose a new reality on the ground that erases the Palestinian existence and facilitates settlement expansion in the area.

According to residents’ testimonies to PCHR’s staff, the past four years have witnessed a significant escalation in attacks targeting the community, including the accelerated establishment of pastoral settlement outposts, particularly since the beginning of October 2023, when the entire residents of Mo’arajat al-Westa community were forcibly displaced and replaced by a pastoral settlement outpost.

This policy has been repeated in other communities such as Wadi al Seeq, east of Ramallah, and Shalal Al-‘Auja, north of Jericho, until it targeted ‘Arab al-Malihāt, one of the largest and most important Bedouin communities along the street connecting Jericho with Ramallah. This gradual policy cannot be separated from a broader strategy aimed at depopulating the area in favor of major settlement projects.

According to information and testimonies collected by PCHR’s staff, the community was home to around 70 Palestinian families, totaling 500 individuals, most of whom were forced to leave the area about three years ago due to ongoing harassment by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). The IOF denied them access to their pastoral lands in the northern part of the community, which is classified as a Firing Zone (906), in addition to preventing them from grazing in the southern area of the ” Mevo’ot Yericho” settlement, located 500 meters away from the community.

Throughout 2025, the community was subjected to several attacks by Israeli settler gangs aimed at intensifying pressure on its residents, intimidating them, and forcibly displacing them as part of the Israeli authorities’ efforts to alter the community’s demographic reality.

As previously documented by PCHR’s staff, on 31 May 2025, a group of settlers set fire to the 36-sqm mosque of ‘Arab al-Malihāt community, located on its outskirts and built of metal and tinplate. The settlers broke its windows and threw flammable substances inside, completely burning it.

In a previous incident in mid-February, settlers stole around 30 heads of livestock, wandered around residents’ dwellings throughout the day, threw stones at them, denied them access to their pastoral lands near the community, and cut off the community’s water supply several times. In mid-March, settlers also demolished two tinplate barracks, a barn, water tanks, and solar panels.

Salman Malihat said to PCHR’s researcher about attacks that took place in ‘Arab al-Malihāt community:²

“Since the onset of 2025, our Arab al-Malihāt Bedouin Community, southeast of al-‘Auja village, has been subjected to systematic attacks by settler gangs. In early February, a group of settlers stormed the area and stole an agricultural tractor used for irrigation, transporting fodder, and tending to livestock. This incident caused us significant losses and severely impacted our daily livelihoods, especially since we rely on such agricultural equipment in our work. About two weeks later, in mid-February, the settlers returned to the community’s surroundings and directly demolished several barracks and simple dwellings sheltering some families. They carried out the attack themselves, using metal tools and small bulldozers. They destroyed the dwellings and threw their contents outside. It was clear that their goal was not just to cause damage, but to intimidate us and exert continuous pressure. Later, the attacks were daily repeated. Settlers would sneak into the community at night, threaten us, throw stones at the tents, chase children, and terrify the women. On some nights, they attempted to steal livestock or vandalize the fences surrounding our pastoral lands. We were offered no protection, neither by the IOF nor by any other body. We were left alone to encounter an organized and escalating threat. Under these conditions, and with the danger steadily increasing, we could no longer stay. On 2 and 3 July 2025, the remaining 18 families in the community began dismantling their tents and dwellings and transporting their belongings to an area known as “Eastern al-‘Auja,” about 5 kilometers to the east of our original location. Our displacement was not by choice; we were forcibly displaced by relentless attacks, the looting of our property, the destruction of our dwellings, and the complete absence of safety. We did not leave willingly; we left because remaining in the community posed an existential threat to us and our children. Today, nothing remains but empty tents and our footprints. In our new place of refuge, we struggle to reunite our families and search for the bare minimum of stability.”

A woman, resident of ‘Arab al-Malihat (married with 5 children) said to PCHR’s fieldworker:³

“We lived in a makeshift tent and relied on grazing sheep for a livelihood. Since the beginning of 2025, the situation in our community “‘Arab al-Malihat.” started to deteriorate. In early February, settlers stormed our area and set fire to our tractor, which we used in irrigation and transferring fodder. Two weeks later, they returned- not only to steal but started to demolish the improvised shelters where we lived without being accompanied by any official authority. They did this attack with their own hands using steel tools and small bulldozers. They demolished the neighbors’ dwellings and threw their belongings outside. In the two days leading up to our displacement, settlers established a new settlement outpost inside the community, very close to our dwellings, increasing the psychological pressure on us and forcing us to leave.  These attacks occurred almost daily. At night, settlers would approach our tents, screaming and threatening to throw stones at tents, leaving us in a constant state of fear.  One night, we woke up to find one of the water tanks emptied and the fence around the livestock barns cut. With each day, we felt we were losing more of our safety and stability. On 2 July 2025, we could no longer endure this. The remaining families, including mine, started to dismantle the tents and move as many belongings as we could to an area known as Eastern Al-Auja.  We left because we wanted to protect our lives and the lives of our children from imminent danger.”

The ‘Arab al-Malihat Community is located southeast ofAl-Auja village in Jericho and home to al-Ka’abnah and Al-Malihat families, who had been forcibly displaced from Beersheba and later resettled in the area. The community consists of basic dwellings built of tinplate, bricks and steel, and its residents primarily rely on sheep grazing for their livelihood.  The community also has a school built of tinplate, but it now faces serious threats from ongoing settlement expansion, which has reached the school’s vicinity. This has turned the educational environment into a space marked by fear and danger undermining one of the key pillars of the community’s social and psychological well-being.

It should be noted that between 7 October 2023 and the end of June 2025, the Israeli authorities and settlers forcibly displaced residents of 46 Palestinian communities, either partially or totally. This displacement has affected 428 Palestinian families of 2635 members, including 1073  children. Notably, 8 of these communities were subjected to forced displacement during the first six months of 2025 alone.⁴

PCHR emphasizes that the unfolding situation in ‘Arab al-Malihat Community constitutes a crime of systematic forced displacement that amounts to a war crime, according to the Geneva Conventions and Rome Statute. It also falls under a broader policy aimed at altering the demographic composition of the Jordan Valleys by replacing the Indigenous population with settlers.

PCHR indicates that this pattern of settler attacks does not reflect random or individual incidents but rather comes from a systematic and deliberate coordination among Israel’s various arms: the government, the military and the settlers.  The division of roles among these actors reflects an official policy aimed at consolidating the Israeli control over the West Bank territory and depopulating Palestinian areas through tools of violence organized and protected by legal and military frameworks. This policy operates as part of a broader strategy to alter demographic composition and entrench the annexationist plant.

In light of the above, PCHR:

• Calls on the international community to take urgent action to stop all acts of forced displacement and provide effective protection for Bedouin communities in the West Bank.
• Urges the United Nations and its relevant bodies to dispatch commissions of inquiry to document these violations and bring an end to the prevailing culture of impunity enjoyed by Israel.
• Calls on the International Criminal Court to expedite its investigations into war crimes committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including crimes of forced displacement, and expand the scope of accountability to include all those responsible for settlement and forced displacement policies.

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1. A testimony obtained by PCHR’s  researcher on 05 July 2025, with the witness requesting that her name be withheld. ↩︎
2. A testimony obtained by PCHR’s researcher on 04 July 2025. ↩︎
3. A testimony received by PCHR’s field researcher on 5 July 2025 and her provider requested anonymity. ↩︎
4. Land Research Center: Link ↩︎